Decline of Science in England [4]
reproach of the Royal Society for the offence, to escaping their censure by an evasion. What I have done rests on my own head; and I shrink not from the responsibility attaching to it.
If those, whose mismanagement of that Society I condemn, should accuse me of hostility to the Royal Society; my answer is, that the party which governs it is not the Royal Society; and that I will only admit the justice of the accusation, when the whole body, becoming acquainted with the system I have exposed, shall, by ratifying it with their approbation, appropriate it to themselves: an event of which I need scarcely add I have not the slightest anticipation.
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CONTENTS.
PREFACE Introductory Remarks CHAP. I. On the Reciprocal Influence of Science and Education. CHAP. II. Of the Inducements to Individuals to cultivate Science. --Sect. 1. Professional Impulses. ------ 2. Of National Encouragement. ------ 3. Of Encouragement from learned Societies. CHAP. III. General State of learned Societies in England. CHAP. IV. State of the Royal Society in particular. --Sect. 1. Mode of becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society. ------ 2. Of the Presidency and Vice-Presidencies. ------ 3. Of the Secretariships ------ 4. Of the Scientific Advisers. ------ 5. Of the Union of several Offices in one person. ------ 6. Of the Funds of the Society. ------ 7. Of the Royal Medals. ------ 8. Of the Copley Medals. ------ 9. Of the Fairchild Lecture. ------ 10. Of the Croonian Lecture. ------ 11. Of the Causes of the Present State of the Royal Society. ------ 12. Of the Plan for Reforming the Society. CHAP. V. Of Observations. --Sect. 1. Of Minute Precision. ------ 2. On the Art of Observing. ------ 3. On the Frauds of Observers. CHAP. VI. Suggestions for the Advancement of Science in England. --Sect. 1. Of the Necessity that Members of the Royal Society --------- should express their Opinions. ------ 2. Of Biennial Presidents. ------ 3. Of the Influence of the Colleges of Physicians and --------- Surgeons in the Royal Society. ------ 4. Of the Influence of the Royal Institution on the Royal --------- Society. ------ 5. Of the Transactions of the Royal Society. ------ 6. Order of Merit. ------ 7. Of the Union of Scientific Societies. CONCLUSION. APPENDIX NO. 1. ------- NO. 2. ------- NO. 3.
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REFLECTIONS ON THE DECLINE OF SCIENCE IN ENGLAND, AND ON SOME OF ITS CAUSES.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
It cannot have escaped the attention of those, whose acquirements enable them to judge, and who have had opportunities of examining the state of science in other countries, that in England, particularly with respect to the more difficult and abstract sciences, we are much below other nations, not merely of equal rank, but below several even of inferior power. That a country, eminently distinguished for its mechanical and manufacturing ingenuity, should be indifferent to the progress of inquiries which form the highest departments of that knowledge on whose more elementary truths its wealth and rank depend, is a fact which is well deserving the attention of those who shall inquire into the causes that influence the progress of nations.
To trace the gradual decline of mathematical, and with it of the highest departments of physical science, from the days of Newton to the present, must be left to the historian. It is not within the province of one who, having mixed sufficiently with scientific society in England to see and regret the weakness of some of its greatest ornaments, and to see through and deplore the conduct of its pretended friends, offers these remarks, with the hope that they may excite discussion,--with the conviction that discussion is the firmest ally of truth,--and with the confidence that nothing but the full expression of public opinion can remove the evils that chill the enthusiasm, and cramp the energies of the science of England.
The causes which have produced, and some of the effects which have resulted from, the present state of science in England, are so mixed, that it is difficult to distinguish
If those, whose mismanagement of that Society I condemn, should accuse me of hostility to the Royal Society; my answer is, that the party which governs it is not the Royal Society; and that I will only admit the justice of the accusation, when the whole body, becoming acquainted with the system I have exposed, shall, by ratifying it with their approbation, appropriate it to themselves: an event of which I need scarcely add I have not the slightest anticipation.
*
CONTENTS.
PREFACE Introductory Remarks CHAP. I. On the Reciprocal Influence of Science and Education. CHAP. II. Of the Inducements to Individuals to cultivate Science. --Sect. 1. Professional Impulses. ------ 2. Of National Encouragement. ------ 3. Of Encouragement from learned Societies. CHAP. III. General State of learned Societies in England. CHAP. IV. State of the Royal Society in particular. --Sect. 1. Mode of becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society. ------ 2. Of the Presidency and Vice-Presidencies. ------ 3. Of the Secretariships ------ 4. Of the Scientific Advisers. ------ 5. Of the Union of several Offices in one person. ------ 6. Of the Funds of the Society. ------ 7. Of the Royal Medals. ------ 8. Of the Copley Medals. ------ 9. Of the Fairchild Lecture. ------ 10. Of the Croonian Lecture. ------ 11. Of the Causes of the Present State of the Royal Society. ------ 12. Of the Plan for Reforming the Society. CHAP. V. Of Observations. --Sect. 1. Of Minute Precision. ------ 2. On the Art of Observing. ------ 3. On the Frauds of Observers. CHAP. VI. Suggestions for the Advancement of Science in England. --Sect. 1. Of the Necessity that Members of the Royal Society --------- should express their Opinions. ------ 2. Of Biennial Presidents. ------ 3. Of the Influence of the Colleges of Physicians and --------- Surgeons in the Royal Society. ------ 4. Of the Influence of the Royal Institution on the Royal --------- Society. ------ 5. Of the Transactions of the Royal Society. ------ 6. Order of Merit. ------ 7. Of the Union of Scientific Societies. CONCLUSION. APPENDIX NO. 1. ------- NO. 2. ------- NO. 3.
*
REFLECTIONS ON THE DECLINE OF SCIENCE IN ENGLAND, AND ON SOME OF ITS CAUSES.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
It cannot have escaped the attention of those, whose acquirements enable them to judge, and who have had opportunities of examining the state of science in other countries, that in England, particularly with respect to the more difficult and abstract sciences, we are much below other nations, not merely of equal rank, but below several even of inferior power. That a country, eminently distinguished for its mechanical and manufacturing ingenuity, should be indifferent to the progress of inquiries which form the highest departments of that knowledge on whose more elementary truths its wealth and rank depend, is a fact which is well deserving the attention of those who shall inquire into the causes that influence the progress of nations.
To trace the gradual decline of mathematical, and with it of the highest departments of physical science, from the days of Newton to the present, must be left to the historian. It is not within the province of one who, having mixed sufficiently with scientific society in England to see and regret the weakness of some of its greatest ornaments, and to see through and deplore the conduct of its pretended friends, offers these remarks, with the hope that they may excite discussion,--with the conviction that discussion is the firmest ally of truth,--and with the confidence that nothing but the full expression of public opinion can remove the evils that chill the enthusiasm, and cramp the energies of the science of England.
The causes which have produced, and some of the effects which have resulted from, the present state of science in England, are so mixed, that it is difficult to distinguish